Like all great cauldrons, the Great War is still warm to the touch, especially in Ireland. The desire to promote reconciliation has prompted fresh interest in a conflict in which Irish nationalists served alongside unionists. But, as the historian Brian Hanley has argued, this fuzzy nostalgia ignores the reality that many of these men joined up for opposing reasons, and some would fight each other afterwards as IRA volunteers, Black and Tans, B Specials and Free State soldiers. And the poppy is not just a symbol of the world war dead but of all British military losses since 1914, including those in Northern Ireland. Symbols acquire, though, a reality of their own. That Máirtin Ó Muilleoir has become the first Sinn Féin lord mayor of Belfast to attend an Armistice Day ceremony is an important gesture in honouring memories the other side cherishes. One act of generosity does not necessarily lead to another, but cumulatively it helps.

• This article was amended on 12 November 2013 to remove a reference to Brian Hanley as a nationalist historian.